bottom of the 6th inning. two on, two out. nationals on top 8-2. ronnie belliard has two rbis today. the biggest two of the game, really, turning a one-run, bottom of the 1st into a three- run frame. he walked in the 3rd, grounded in the 4th. >> rob: come on, make this guy pay for hitting the hammer. >> bob: they play belliard like a hammer. nobody cheat on him anymore. i mean -- every one of those guys is deeper than the kind of spot we see in the grass spot in the month of august after the grass starts getting pounded by the sun and the conditions here on a daily basis. all three of them are beyond those spots. they play a regulation hitter.

there's mike cameron behind that bare spot. the ground spot will take care of and it have it greened up when the guys get back but these field take a beating this time of the year. from rain to extreme humidity and sunny conditions. they have to keep the dirt infield hosed down at times to keep it from turning into a rock. 3-0 and belliard -- villanueva having a hard time finding the plate. the generous strike call. >> rob: that's not ronnie's pitch out there. sorry. give him that strike. you want ronnie swinging. northrop grum monday -- give him that strike. now come in a little bit closer. >> bob: belliard off center and will carry to mike cameron. two stranded. the nat have left seven.

we are onto the 7th. 8-2, washington. across the country every day. pa announcer: final boarding call... all passengers... each with an average speed of 590 mph... almost as fast as you. nothing's gonna hold you down. grab your bag . it's on™west so our low fares stay low. ( ding ) book now at southwest.com.

now that college is a few years behind me, it seems i've got three times the bills i used to. and they're getting in the way of things i'd like to do. with the money bar, i can move my money around instantly, so when there's more bills than usual, it's no problem. and i use the wish list to put any extra money aside for anything i want. being in control of my money feels good. introducing the virtual wallet from pnc, a high-definition, online view of your money. pnc. leading the way.  >> bob:  we're back and a l of folks are having fun today. the nationals are trying to break a five-game losing streak on this homestand and get a game -- >> aflac! >> bob: against the brewers. prior to prince, the last

brewer to lead the league in home run. rob guessed gorman thomas. it was gorman thomas when they went to the world series. you hilt whitey ford last night. >> rob: i just go with the names i know. whitey, gorman. gorman has a nice restaurant out there in milwaukee. >> bob: does he? >> rob: yep. i don't know if he has one at the new -- i assume he has restaurant in the stadium there. >> bob: this is for the pitcher villanueva. he settled this game down for the brewers by pitching 2 2/3 scoreless baseball. nationals got a hit, walk, last night and he is what warming up again. not to be lost in all of this,

rob dibble, craig stammen in his 7th inning of work, it's the first time he pitched more than six innings since july 22nd in a 3-1 win against the mets. >> rob: still plugging away. 93 pitches but that shouldn't matter. most of the starting rotation should be well rested. >> bob: it hasn't been a prolific week for starters. a pitch up. right center. morgan can't get there. that ball hops over for a ground-rule double. extremely well hit by iriribarren. that's only milwaukee's fifth hit today.

>> rob: some of the pitchers put the ball up in if zone. burnett. >> bob: mike rivera, 0 for 2 with a pair of groundballs and hit taken away by zimmerman last time. >> rob: i think steve mccatty will say the last two pitches have been up in the zone. are you okay? are you tired?

going to work the ball down. >> bob: was it john heart you were chat with the other day? >> rob: no, john daniels. >> bob: john daniels, i'm sorry. did he give you a reading whether the rangers can see a difference now from early in the season when nolan ryan started talking about throwing away the pitch counters and the radar guns and all that stuff? are they seeing results at all? >> rob: they just complete a study in the minor leagues and have thrown less pitches this year than the last few years. he wants them to go deeper. they are but are throwing less pitches so more economical inning to inning. >> bob: wow. >> rob: they like what they see but it hasn't, you know, as far as what you're seeing at the minor league level -- they have done such a turn around.

they were last in pitching last year and now the top five this year in pitching. >> bob: yeah, texas has a team e.r.a. of 4.17, only seattle, chicago, and detroit better. they're ahead of tampa bay, boston and the yankees and minnesota. and the angels. >> rob: -- a lot of injuries. they're almost last in the american league now. >> bob: they would the baseball world will really keep an eye on what they're doing in texas. adam dunn sees it. he never got out of sorts there, very relaxed under that ball. belliard was there to help if he needed and it took the ball for the first out. >> rob: they're going with a lot of young pitchers. you know, they have just over 90 starts between four starters in that rotation, very much like our own. the only other guy -- they got rid of padilla, over with the dodgers now. kevin middlewood almost got 370 career starts just himself. so you have four guys with less

than 100 starts combine and this will be it for stop -, as jim riggleman will bring burnett in the game. it's working. mike maddox is the coach so whey they're doing or put on them or accountability, it's work on texas. >> bob: a solid outing by craig stammen into 7th inning. only five hits. bag $15 dollars to ride in the bottom of the plane in the dark. no peanuts or nothin'. and then if your bag wants to bring one of its little bag friends for company, they charge another $25. that's just plain mean. why do they hate your bags? at southwest airlines, bags fly free. grab your bag. it's on! ( ding )

 >> bob:  on a not hot baseb afternoon, it's one out in the 7th and willie harris will bat ninth and play left field. willie will be batting third in the upcoming inning and then shawn bern let face jody gerut. lefty-lefty matchup. shawn was quite busy pitching in 38 games for the pirates. >> bob: gerut came back in the 5th ing. >> rob: probably bunted it to the catcher. >> bob: stammen out of the game after 19 outs, 97 pitches.

shawn totally hold onto that one too long and that wild pitch will put irbarren on third base. >> rob: as the man two doors down would say -- john! you're outside. telling me some great frank howard stories after the game last night. >> bob: and the brewers are on the board. this game is far from over. 8-3 on a base hit by jody gerut. >> rob: remember the story about mr. howard and how he took one set of clothes on the road and wash them over and over? >> bob: yeah. >> rob: bob was telling me

jody gerut will get ahold of the breaking ball and single in a run -- he was an you can have for the with the brewers and used to stay at the mariott in milwaukee and at least four or five times -- because it department look like anybody was live in the room -- they would sell the room. [ laughter ] and then frank -- no clothes so frank howard would come back and go -- why is there somebody in my room? they're like, because there's nobody in there. no, i'm in there. i'm living in there. so it is true he -- you know, very neat and tidy man. >> bob: mike morse puts that for the second out. top of the order now and lopez will bat right-handed. [ laughter ] >> rob: they didn't think anybody was in there. can you imagine a guy almost 7 feet tall and nobody noticed he was there? >> bob: i'm sure the maid saw

no clothes. >> rob: no mess. >> bob: probably took the stuff to the ballpark. >> rob: what about a toothbrush? anything. used towel. that's pretty neat. i think that's how bob's rooms are on the road. >> bob: evidently he only had one pair of shoes. >> rob: is that your room, debbi? your room is a mess. mine too. the cleaning ladies would think somebody was murdered with me just sleeping in the bed. >> bob: 2-1. felipe hitting the ball hard all three times today. an rbi hit, fly out deep to left. hard to center. 7 for 14 in the series with five rbis. that ball is flared right field line. and it's a good thing it went

foul because felipe lopez chose not to run. he stood in the -- and this is the kind of thing that always rears its ugly head with felipe, when he doesn't do what he is supposed to do. >> rob: it's a questionable call. that ball was maybe a foot or two foul and he never ran. he should have been on second. what is he thinking? this ball is just foul. he stand there and walks up the line and is walking, walking, morse makes great play on it. can't catch it but, man, if that's foul, it's a couple of inches. >> bob: 2-2. was he going that good to not run out balls? >> rob: well, we had the play in milwaukee where he paused at third and got thrown out at home and those things happen. the kid is so talented. he is a great athlete.

>> bob: well, that's the difference between this guy and nyjer morgan. i love watching nyjer -- hustle on everything. he is hustling all the time. >> rob: is that tony plush in center today? >> bob: i know that's hot rod in the left who brought his rag top and his oldsmobile cutlass. i believe it's ú67 or ú68. it's all trick out. >> rob: i told willy you were talking about his car. he was happy about that. he had that idling. i thought freight train was going by. >> bob: did he tell you when we were trying to open the hood

and it took an hour and he comes the next day -- it took us two hours to figure that out. >> rob: another pitcher knocks down a hot shot. stammen on cameron and in this inning, shawn bern it on felipe lopez. glowow think you got his hand. a run on two hits. a runner stranded and that run charged to craig stammen. 7th inning stretch time and a tradition that at nationals park before "take me out to the ball game." question we shall have "god bless america."   >> ladies and gentleme please joins as we honor our country. here to perform "god bless america" one again, sarah grave. ♪ god bless america

♪ land that i love ♪ stand besides her ♪ and guide her ♪ ♪ there through the night with a light from above ♪ ♪ from the mountains to the prairie ♪ to the oceans ♪ ♪ god bless america my home sweet home ♪ ♪ god bless america, my home sweet home ♪ [ cheers and applause ] oto

with a flick, there's an app for that. if you want to share contact info with a bump, there's an app for that. or if you just want to share some downtime, well, there's an app for that too. because there's an app for just about anything. only on the iphone.

 >> debbi:  an 8-3 lead as w move to the bottom of the 7th. a survey features eight members of the nats. they were voted by league managers in the survey. the list include seth bynum, the best defensive second baseman. the shortstop desmond got best infield arm in the eastern and international leagues and catcher morse was voted the best batting black% and best power prospect in. zimmerman was given best defensive third baseman honor and morgan was tied with pierre as the best -- [ indistinct ] and this was vote by managers so good stuff there. >> bob: always good when voted by people on the field. recognizing these players for their tools, skills, and talent.

here's difelice. bard, morse, and harris in the bottom of the 7th. tyler clippard for the 8th. >> rob: we hope sean burnett is okay. a good shot to the pitching hand. that ended the last inning. >> bob: but the atmosphere and the dugout -- it's so much different when a starter at least gets you into the 7th inning. and a high flyball at short. escobar. josh bard, 1 for 4 today. mike morse is next. he is 1 for 3 with a double and we will see willie harris for the first time. at least the first time since willie homered in the 8th inning last night.

top of the 9th now at citi field. 9-6 phillies over the mets. and the brave have come back late in ball game, 8th inning, tie the marlins 5-5. did you think a few people saw the matchup of perez and martinez and said, that will be a high- scoring game? >> rob: i thought it would be a duel. >> bob: you did not. >> rob: for about their warmups. >> bob: yeah. >> rob: perez -- it's just -- the mets missed boat. you let lowe go away. he went to the brave in your own division and you sign that

guy for $36 million. you're hooked up with him for two more years. >> bob: that's unbelievable. only ten wins last year and over 100 walks. there's morse's mom and stepdad. it's 1-2 on the breaking ball away. a pitch under his hand. morse is gone. he is 1 for 4 today. >> rob: well, that pitch kind of dips across the plate. sets up outside. the pitch is across the plate and chuck meriweather said, i'll give you a strike on that

one. >> bob: harris hit his fifth homer of the year last night, his 25th career home run. most of those were in the past two years. 18 of those last 25, ú08, "09. i chatted with willie briefly near the vintage automobile of his last night and he was talking about how really tough it is when you're not getting at-bats to get any kind of feel or rhythm at the plate. that was a badly-needed hit and went out of the ballpark for willie but it's just such a difficult job and he is used to playing more than he is playing right now. on an 0-2 pitch, flies to center for mike cameron. and this ball game into the 8th inning. counsell, not braun anymore.

and then fielder coming up for the brewers. @x@0@p@0@6p)@)@)p

 >> bob:  guzman and a play got braun thrown out. >> >> rob: a great play. there you see the pick and the ball in the glove.

the foot on the bag. braun doesn't agree and fires his helmet and is ejected so the freeze came goes to -- well, braun, guzman and dunn. braun gets to go in the clubhouse and have some coarse light. >> bob: double switch with padilla in right field. clippard takes over. >> rob: isn't that a 4:30 start tomorrow? >> bob: 4:35 first pitch. >> rob: i listened to you. then 1:35 and then a 4:35? >> bob: getaway day for the nats on their way to chicago. brewers will be home and suppans off the d.l. tuesday night against cincinnati. he will get owings back as

well. counsel, 0 for 3 -- a flyball, two grounders. 0 for 8 in this series. and a 1-2 from clippard. >> rob: too high. josh bard wanted it a little lower. davidweters has been around for awhile, very dependable. with the cincinnati reds earlier this year. >> bob: reaching for that one, reaching to left center. harris is right there and the countdown of outs is down to five. today's telecast present by authority of the washington nationals. may not be reproduced or retransmit in any form and if accounts and descriptions of this game may not be disseminated without the

express, written consent of the washington nationals who lead 8- 3 in the top of the 8th inning. bourgeois will be the hitter. he started in right field last night with an rbi single in three trips before being replaced with the double switch -- actually, a pinch running situation. bourgeois is from houston. originally drafted by texas and more than nine years in the minor leagues. they called him up august 12 when bill hall was designated and it's 3-0. >> rob: when you talk about this young man last night, nine years he spent in the minor leagues. he is toiling. loving it. >> bob: over 200 stolen bases

on those minor league diamond and is aboard with one out. that's a lot of time on the bus. prince fielder could make this game interesting. >> rob: this is where you don't want to put people on base. >> bob: not in front of him. that was a poorly-timed walk by tyler clippard. >> rob: you dodged a bullet by braun being out of the game because he would have hit there. >> bob: feeler off to the left side and the count is 0-2.

and this ball popped up over on the left side for zimmerman. that at-bat could be the last gasp for the brewers today. we'll see. two outs in the 8th inning now. with mike cameron coming up. verizon phios presents nats extra. eight runs, eight hit in 3 1/3 innings. stammen, a good day. balester and gallardo at the finale at 4:35 tomorrow. johnny and ray will be on the air at 4:00. we'll be on the air at 4:30 and

uncontested for bourgeois. >> rob: the catcher is indifferent. >> bob: i don't know. i would give him a steam. >> rob: looked like belliard covered second. brewers need some steals. they have two today and 45 on the year. they started as the least- running team in the national league. 59 stolen bases. top ten now. swiped a single base in this series. cameron, 0 for 2 and a walk today.

>> rob: that's ad into pitch. 1-2.   see what the track has to broadway through the center of the box. >> bob: and he threw it by him up and in! good change of location by clippard and end the top of the 8th with his first strikeout. brewers have stranded five and trail the nats by five. bag $15 dollars to ride in the bottom of the plane in the dark. no peanuts or nothin'. and then if your bag wants to bring one of its little bag friends for company, they charge another $25. that's just plain mean. why do they hate your bags? at southwest airlines, bags fly free.

grab your bag. it's on! ( ding )

 >> bob: nationals baseball brought to you by -- it's a beautiful day to be on the water, huh, on the an cost ya or poe topic. or to be with the nationals at the bottom of the 8th inning. 8-3 over the milwaukee brewers. 39-year-old davidweters is into the game, his first professional season was 21 years ago. he made it to the big deeings in ú91 with the blue jays. stops in toronto, florida, yankees, milwaukee. he has been there before. ú98 to ú01. cubs, mets, houston, back to florida, cincinnati. as rob told you.

and now back to the brewers. he has always been solid everywhere he has been. 75 career states and nyjer morgan leads in the bottom of the 8th. guzman and zimmerman to follow. 8-3 mets33 nats. grow 945 games. >> bob: a lot of warmups. ball slips by him and well played by the shortstop. escobar almost pulled prince fielder off the bag. escobar had a few shaky moments today but got the job done there. >> rob: you will see escobar using some of his great range, comes over, ball not hit as hard. now he has to rush it with speed coming.

a little lever range. you can see prince make a nice play to save an error for the young shortstop. >> bob: guzman, 2 for 4 today. he hit the ball sharply three times. how many multi-hit games is that now? >> rob: we have add one and will be 46. one ahead of nyjer morgan and the 46th, his third best in the league. >> bob: guzman will tap one out to center for mike cameron. zimmerman is 2 for 4 today. this is a big man's home run

the other way over the nearly 20-foot scoreboard. >> rob: that's what they are talking about, hitting the ball on the barrel. such great form. he starts hitting the ball the other way, though, and is pretty tough. on the inside he crushes. hit the ball away and they have no whether to pitch him. >> bob: they will do that to you. >> rob: that will keep you from going out over that portion of the plate. >> bob: first movement towards the inside. has to go the other way.

bottom of the 8th in atlanta. so some serious offense in the national league east today. including eight runs on ten hits by the nationals. there's our menu for tomorrow on nats xtra at 4:00. first pitch from balester at 4:35. >> rob: after he did that on the 1-0 pitch, a 2-0 breaking ball for strike one. now it's a full count. you see him -- whoa, that's a close shave.

>> bob: a good at-bat and gets adam dunn up there. with two out. david weatherers and adam dunn are former teammates. >> rob: i don't think he is afraid of many people, including teammates. >> bob: just a little low. >> rob: his on base percentage over .420 now. and he came into this game number three in the league in that department, only pujols and chase utley are getting on

base now more than adam dunn. >> bob: flies by the mound. lopez throws him out. the nationals will strand eight runners today. three outs to get to grab their first win and their last six. top of the 9th. what's nice about the iphone, is if you run into a friend and you want to share a photo with a flick, there's an app for that. if you want to share contact info with a bump, there's an app for that. or if you just want to share some downtime, well, there's an app for that too. because there's an app for just about anything. only on the iphone.

 >> bob:  coming up tomorrow gallardo, who the nats have face this year. he pitched seven great innings against washington and gae up three runs and 11 strikeouts and balester coming out from one of his worst starts ever, didn't make it through two his last time out but had a good game at milwaukee. six innings, two runs. johnny and ray at 4:00 tomorrow. gonzalez place second base. that moves belliard over to first and adam dunn finished for the day. casey mcgee gets an at-bat here in the pitcher's spot for milwaukee. and mcgee has done some damage in thisser this series.

mcgee, 1-2. and a pop-up to the right side of the infield. alberto gonzalez. next up is the catcher. their 14th in 36 games against

the national league central. wow. looked quicker than 91. >> rob: they did and miss it. that's why i don't believe in guns. the hitters will let you know how you're throwing and he threw the ball by cameron. he doesn't miss many fastballs. >> bob: those two pitches so far right by rivera. 

 one ball and two strikes catcher. good-bye! strike out number two by clippard and the nationals are one out away from a badly- needed win after losing their first five games on this homestand. >> rob: flew by you. watch the late-break movement of this four-seam fastball. almost like a 92-mile-an-hour cutter. >> bob: and jody gerut, the hitter. an rbi last at-bat. stammen give up three runs on five hits, only one walk, pitched to contact, only struck out one batter and is in line for his fourth major league win.

2-0 from clippard. [ cheers and applause ] brewers about to slip to four under 3.5 on the road and three under overall. they need to play .600 ball or better to have any shot in the wild card race. [ cheers and applause ] and the called strike. >> rob: a little giddy up at the en. >> bob: and a crowd of 21484 waiting for clippard to get this one over with. [ cheers and applause ]

on a ball to right field. going back and back is padilla and the losing streak is over. [ cheers and applause ] about time. a well-pitched game, a well- played game by the nats but most of all, rob, the offense was awesome again. >> rob: yeah, the owns the putting up big numbers. -- the offense has been putting up big numbers. >> bob: stammen gets the win. zimmerman, a big gay. we're back with more from nationals park in a moment. across the country every day. pa announcer: final boarding call... all passengers... each with an average speed of 590 mph... almost as fast as you. nothing's gonna hold you down.

grab your bag . it's on™west so our low fares stay low. ( ding ) book now at southwest.com. how do you play? you play to win. right, so you start with some cold coors light, - you play to win the game. - then you? yes, yes, agreed. ( chuckles ) we were just wondering, do you go online? do you enter a code? hello! you play to win the game! look for the official entry code inside special packs of coors light... for your chance to win nfl tickets. do you ever play to lose the game? get out! you get out! ( laughs )  >> bob:  the nats win 8-3. let's quickly go down to the field and debbie taylor has zimmerman. >> debbi: thank you very much, johnny and ryan. a much-needed win today. >> swung the bat well and played good defense.

>> debbi: you have to love manny parra coming into this game. you had a .625 batting average against him. what was your approach in the 4th inning? >> swing and strike. he is a good, tough pitcher but if you can get a good pitch to hit good things will happen. >> debbi: how is it to take things the other way? >> it's part of the plan, i think. i have to play with that plan. >> debbi: husband adam dunn's presence -- has adam dunn's presence allowed you to be more selective? >> i don't know if it has. i think i have learned from him. he is one of the best in the game so watching him for a whole year helped me a lot. >> debbi: good game today. thank you have. let's go back up to bob. >> bob: thank you, and for rob and debbi, bob car ten per. they win 8-3 over milwaukee. join us tomorrow unmans hd. they wrap up the series against the brewers and will get you going at 4:00 for nats xtra.

visit masnsports.com for the latest news, including a blog by rob dibble. stay tuned now. nats xtra with johnny and ray right now. 2:51 is from the game. as long as. so long.   >> johnny: welcome to xtra, brought to you by verizon. the 124th game of the season and the bucs and nationals get the victory. their 4th of the year. the brewers suffer their 63rd loss as the nationals exchange unpleasantries after the win. almost a carbon copy of last night but the good guys win. >> ray: good pitching. almost went 100 pitches, 6 1/3 inning, missing fastballs and on top where he was his last

two starts and the way he pitched for a month and a half earlier in the season. >> johnny: what is interesting -- you said a couple of hours ago, we have to get 100 pitches out of standpoint men, maybe six or seven would be nice, almost on the button, silver fox. >> ray: we had a lot of runs othery to allow riggleman to do that. it was easy to say that. i was con vicked to do that and he manned up. >> johnny: sure did. >> ray: he cowboyed up and i believer he is the guy that used the word tenacity twice today. but lannan has it and why he has been so effective over two years. this kid had adversity early and guys thought he couldn't get through the line up and proved that wrong and mow he comes back to pitch well for his third straight outing when we need it the most. >> johnny: he gets the win. let's talk about the defining moment in the ball game. it was a good start for the nationals in the bottom of the 1st with a 1-0 lead.

two out and two on and belliard comes through. >> ray: he is such a quality hitter, johnny. i would have to play him every day because his offense is good. he wasn't happy because his role was diminished but a big two-out base hit. the runner on third base -- less than two outs and turned the ball game around quickly as stammen got through the first. they were able to sustain that offense early and often. >> johnny: when you look at the score today, ten hits and three in the first inning. two in the second. one in the third. dunn goes 2 for 3 with a homer, his 3 3rd of the year. cristian guzman, a solo shot, his sixth. zimmerman, home run number 26 as he continues to improve on his career high with home runs. he drives in three and scores couple of runs and the

nationals now 121 runs for the season. back in 2006 they hit a team record 164 so they've got some long ball power as we saw today. >> ray: no question. last night we talked about this team being a real good offensive club and i said, i never bought they were a good offensive club. what i want to clarify is they are in spurts because of the ability to hit the long ball. we haven't been able to sustain over long periods of time because we strike out a lot but there's no question if you look at the three and four-hole hitters. braun and fielder have 59 home runs between them. we have at between zimmerman and dunn so that's how powerful the middle of the lineup is. >> johnny: it's funny you mentioned two through four hitters as they went yard. here are highlights of those players. >> ray: guzman to the right side. more of a line drive hitter but

serious from the right side. his sixth home run and swings like a power hitter. adam, 74-mile-per-hour curveball that doesn't curve until the atmosphere it reentered there and then zim killed that ball. the stroke has made him probably the best third baseman in the national league this year. >> johnny: the nationals maintain the lead. the bullpen came in and shut down the brewers after stammen gave the ball club a great effort today with a 6 1/3 innings. we will talk more about the nationals as they snap the five- game losing streak, putting away milwaukee in game three of the series 8-3. they can even up the series tomorrow with a final game of this four-game set. we'll take a closer look at the bats when we come back. it's... no, not yet. it back that way. it's on.

( ding ) book now at southwest.com. there's no way to hide it. if you drive drunk, we will find you. cops everywhere are stepping up enforcement... and cracking down like never before. sir, have you been drinking tonight?

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8-3. nats win today, 10 hits, knock off milwaukee and stammen gets win. when you hear about a guy having it going all day today, ray, he had it going. impressive numbers and a great effort to get in the win column. >> ray: he has the ability to keep the ball down, johnny. three quality pitches and they're getting better and better. you know, he had a lot of pressure on him today and he is 25 years old. and he came into his own this season in aaa when they changed him to a two-seamer from a 94, 95-mile-per-hour fastball to a 89-mile-per-hour sinker with a slider and a changeup. and he was able to come out today against a team that has been averaging seven runs. they were swept in pittsburgh. they scored 6.5 runs per game there and scored 11 last night. i think eight the first night so they're an offensive team that can put runs together in a hurry and shut them down.

>> johnny: let's look at the milwaukee lineup that had a pop to it. the bottom half of the lineup got to him. >> ray: that pitch right there -- you're right. the first two runs score from the bottom half, the home run by escobar. a fastball inside part of the plate. nice hit by zimmerman and a changeup running down and away. he threw the past fastball in. the changeup away. look at the movement there. ball on the end of the bat allows him to take the zing out of it and make the play himself. he strikes out cameron on a pitch here. actually, that's not cameron. that's a base hit over morse's head in right field. lopez then singles to right to drive in that run. and that's the only damage that was really done with him early. escobar, ten home runs. hitting ninth. unusual. but i don't care about that home run there. he has a seven-run lead and is supposed to challenge the hitters. they will get you eventually. then he gets back to everything

underway for him, groundball by counsell and braun to shortstop. zimmerman flies out. a great play by adam. braun ejected from the game. fielder going upstairs to get on the fastball to fly out and cameron grounding out, back to the pitcher. i wouldn't call that a groundout. more of a line drop knock them down throw them out. >> johnny: yes, it was. it certainly was. and the nats win 8-3 in this ball game. and if you look at stop means numbers today, very impressive. he gives up five hits. the bullpen only allowed one hit and burnett gave up that. three earned runs and one walk and a strikeout and he threw 95 pitches in this ball game. he gets his fourth win of the season. let's take you quickly down towers where jim riggleman is talking about this win to the media. >> all around just good performance against a very good ball club. >> it look liked your team had a good approach against manny parra. >> we did. we can hit, you know, milwaukee

can hit and we can hit so, you know, we're more surprised when we don't score runs than when we do score them. you know, we had a little break in the 1st inning, you know. they have been playing great baseball and we just got through playing rockies, who played very clean but we got a break and took advantage in the 1st when things opened up with us for what could have been a double play. now, we end up with three runs out of it. >> 3-4, zimmerman and dunn, anchors of the lineup. >> yeah. those two and willingham, just really professional hitters and i think -- you know, adam's presence in the middle is huge. i know if you're in the other dugout it's like being in our dugout. you're constantly looking at when is prince coming up because you know he can be a game-changer at any time and it

kind of creates situations where some other things develop for some other hitters, you know. nobody's going to overlook zimmerman and willingham type guys but when you have to put that much effort into a couple of hitters, you know, sometimes other guys reap the benefits of that. and, you know, i think we've seen that and, you know, the big hit in the game for me to bay was belliard's hit, to get three runs out of that inning instead of one. that was huge, to give us a little breathing room because we know how good a ball club that is and the way they're swinging the bat. >> i was going to ask you about the individual at-bat because of him being able to -- after really tough pitch -- to bite one off and get it in right field. >> yeah. he did. he power pitched him tough there and that's the thing about seeing a lot of pitches. if you get deeper in the at bat, the strange goes towards the hitter and, you know, he is

a professional hitter. we have a lot of them. we have a good offensive ball club and so -- you know, go right through there. guzman, morgan -- the three we already talked about in the middle of the lineup and, you know, it's a good lineup. we have a real performance from josh bard. he is really banged up and he wasn't coming out of that game but he's -- was really kind of walking wounded out there. >> talk about the suicide squeeze. that's something we have not seen in d.c. in a long, long time. >> well, you know, we did it last week and we had it on a couple of times and didn't get the sign. we had it on last week. it backfired on us. we got it down today. just want to make sure we got one more run out of it. but had we not gotten it, then guzman hit a home run anyway. so i would have been kicking

myself for make an out there in front of guzman's home run. but you don't know. it's luck of the draw. you hope you get a good pitch the guy can handle. i felt confident nyjer -- he bunts so much anyway if he threw him something to get to he would be able to put the bat on it and if not put in it play, at least foul it off but he got a good pitch to do it with. >> what happened with bard when you guys came out? >> same thing the groin. it's very tender. and it's just something that, you know he has been playing with for awhile. sometimes it acts up for us than others. it bit him a little bit when he hit the ball in left center. it kind of pulled on him. >> can you talk about how you were aggressive on the base pass in that 1st inning and how that set the tone for you? >> you know, zimmerman was really good here. on his base hit as the ball

came in and was kind of in no man's land there, he aggressively took second after knocking in his run and that's when belly knocked him in from second. nyjer running on the pitch and trail runner being heads up and following him -- there were counts we could run and we run the base very well. we're fairly aggressive on the base but our -- it's not really our best attribute other than nyjer. nyjer creates the energy there for us and if he's not on, you know, we can tend to be station to station so we really appreciate what he is doing at the top to kind of get it going for us. >> -- peaks and valleys offensively and having today and then scoring some run last night, do you feel like better things are coming next? >> well, you know, the starting pitchers will determine that a lot. you know, that's what we have to do. we have to start really get into some of these really big-

time starters. you know, we will face a real good arm tomorrow and three day in a row in something. that's coming up in chicago. the competition that we face on the mound in colorado was topnotch. and that's, you know, i said it many times -- it's the big leagues and is supposed to be like that. it's supposed to be tough and will be tough. but we've done a good job. you know, we hit florida's starting rotation. it was very good. we had some great at-bats and came back and won those games. you know, we just got to continue to do that because our young starters -- we can't expect our young starters to go out there and hold it down completely. if they do what stammen did today, that's outstanding and those are games we have to win. when our starterrer hold another ball club down to three or four ones rock we have to win those games. >> johnny: incidentally, let's

go down to the nationals clubhouse and with the headset on is today's winning pitcher craig stammen. congratulationses and just a terrific, terrific effort for you today. >> hey, thank you very much. >> johnny: your mom, dad, and brother had to have loved this one. >> yeah. it's always good to pitch pretty well when they're in town so they have a good show. >> ray: you have done a great job up here, buddy. you got a rough start and then you had five -- as good outings as you could have and struggled for two or three and the last three have been nails and especially shutting down a ballclub like this -- your mind set over your term here in the big leagues and how you have been able to go about your by? >> yeah. you know, being my rookie season and talking to the older guys -- i know there will be some peaks and valleys and what i learned is it's about managing the valleys so you can bounce back from them and forth good outings for the team and

the rough patch of three starts and kind to have got back on track. hopefully i can keep that going to finish strong. >> johnny: when you look at the batters you face, one of the guys with a lot of power and can really handle most pitchers was prince fielder. 0 for 3 against you. what did you throw him? >> i got him out on a couple of changeups and then a sinker away, too. i made some good pitches on him. you know, he is a big part of their lineup when he and braun are going. they're a tough lineup to face. fortunately i was able to get him out and that helped me get through the lineup a couple of times. >> ray: i watch every pitch you've thrown, partner, and you were throwing a lot of curveballs or slider, whatever you call it. you tell me. fastballs. early. you didn't throw the changeup a lot. now fastball hard in, 91. exceptional movement in, pitching them and the changeup away. you're feeling comfortable with your changeup, aren't you? >> yeah. when i went through the rough

patch, i relied too much on the fastball and curveball and forgot my changeup and slider. you know, the last three starts, i kind of mixed it up more to use all those pitches and today i was able to get a couple of out with the change up and swings and fouled off and misses. when the hitters have to worry about more than two pitches, their job is tougher and it gets them off my sinker, my best pitch and the one i will throw the most. >> johnny: when you came upcoming out of college out of the university of dayton, was the biggest adjustment you had to make the pact you're pitching every fourth or fifth day compare to maybe once a week at the college level? >> yeah. i mean, that's right on right there. when i first got signed and in pro ball, it was, you know, finding out that routine that got me still feeling good on that fifth day. you know, college, you're use to pitching once a week and fortunately i threw a lot in college and i even threw in the middle of the week. so getting used to that five- man rotation wasn't as tough

for me but know that's the biggest adjustment when you start pro. >> johnny: i asked your mom and dad when i talked to them and your brother -- can you give me something about your brother? and your brother gave me a nickname i will say for another day, wreck. it's nothing, you know, it's what, fuzz or buzz? >> yeah. fuzz. i don't know how often we call each other by our real names around the household. even my dad, you know, we think of stuff and call each other that. >> johnny: i tell you something, your brother had a smile a mile wide how proud he is of you as did your parent. congratulations. we appreciate your time, too, craig. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. i appreciate it. thanks, guys. >> johnny: talk about a class act, as all of these guys are in the clubhouse. that's craig stammen. look at the first and second innings. nyjer morgan, 21 of his 45 games started off with a base

hitt including today. >> ray: it's unreal. i'm marveling at his consistency. i thought it would be the proverbial rush that happens when you go to a new club but he has not. he has been lightning on the bases. jim mentioned it, just the energy he has, the big base hit by zim. hustling to second base. i think he ignited that. a lot of guys see how he plays and gives him energy. in the 2nd inning, morris doubles his first hit here. riggleman saying the best utility player he has. the connection was morse was at seattle when riggleman was there. then bunt play get him over there as he does his job and nyjer sacrificed -- not really a sacrifice. it's a squeeze play. i love that play! when you have a one-or-two-run lead or have trouble getting ball in the air -- set it up perfectly. first pitch after action. team is not expecting it.

tremendous job. >> johnny: the best guy to lead on the suicide -- >> reporter: nobody better. >> johnny: is nyjer morgan. >> ray: he doesn'ts lot. he knows to put the ball in play. you're just trying to contact the ball on the ground in play. >> johnny: can you stick around a little lodger? i know you want to run the bays but we have a few more minutes to go. >> ray: are we going to race? >> johnny: with these kids as soon as this show is over. every sunday kids have a chance to run the bases here at nationals park. a lot more to come. back in a minute. ♪ ♪ i always feel like (announcer) it's right here, it's easy... ♪ somebody's watching me. ...it's the money you could be saving with geico. ♪ who's watching? ♪ tell me who's watching. (muffled music) (announcer) it's right here, it's easy... ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ it's the money you could be saving with geico.

 >> johnny: dandy place in game today in the 8-3 win. none better than this catch by willingham. nats and brewers will wrap it up tomorrow at 4:30 unmans hd and then the nats will take a quick flight to chicago against the cubs. they're at wrigley field on tuesday and wednesday. the pregame starts 30 minutes

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 >> johnny: nats xtra broug to you by a big day to be on the water or inside. nationals park to watch washington put away milwaukee. the final is 8-3 today. we talked about -- and you saw the suicide bunt nyjer morgan used to score morgan from third. he told debbi taylor about it moments ago. >> debbi: how awesome is that when it works? >> when it works, a beautiful thing. i didn't want to show too quick. it was at the right time and maybe a little early. everything worked out in our favor.

>> debbi: how nice was it to see stammen take you into the 7th? >> oh, it's huge. definitely getting several quality innings -- you know, just because of the fact they have been getting to our guys early and getting in our club gives our pen a little break and pitched a hell of a game tonight. >> debbi: you look for the split tonight and -- gallardo tomorrow. >> y --allardso a good, solid pitcher. you have to get some good pitching early. don't want to see that curveball. >> johnny: he is tremendous, isn't he? >> ray: he is great. >> johnny: y. gallardo. he will be on the mound for the brewers against balester. >> ray: just 24 innings with a torn meniscus. we know balester had problems

and that's what to look for tomorrow -- keeping the ball down. >> johnny: for ray nigh, i'm johnny holliday. see you tomorrow at 4:00 here on masn.